MALMÖ, a seaport of Sweden, chief town of the district (län) of Malmöhus, on a small bay of the Sound, 384 m. S.S.W. of Stockholm by rail. Pop. (1800), 38,054; (1900), 60,857. It is connected with Copenhagen, 1714 m. W. by N., by steam-ferry, the Sound being kept open in winter by an ice-breaker. It is also the first important station in Sweden on the Berlin-Stockholm route, which crosses the sea between Sassnitz in Rügen and Trelleborg, 20 m. S.E. of Malmö. The town, which stands upon a level plain, formerly had strong fortifications, of which only the citadel (Malmöhus) remains; in it the earl of Bothwell was imprisoned by Frederick II. of Denmark for some time after his departure from Scotland in 1567. The town-hall (1546, largely restored in 1864) contains a handsome chamber, the Knutssal, formerly used by the council of the gild of Canute. The hall fronts the central square (Stortorg) which is planted with trees and contains a colossal statue of Charles X. by Johan Helenus Börjeson (b. 1835) erected in 1896. The most notable church is that of St. Peter (Peterkyrka), dating in part from 1319. Malmö is second to Stockholm as an industrial centre. There are breweries and large works for the manufacture of machinery, among which may be mentioned the Kockum mechanical works, with yards for the construction of vessels of war, and others; of cotton and woollen goods, gloves, chocolate, sweetmeats and tobacco. A large export trade is carried on in butter and other agricultural produce, and matches. Coal is the chief import. The harborage includes an outer harbour of 22 ft. depth, and two inner basins admitting vessels of 21 ft. draught, with dry dock and patent slip. Malmö returns four members to the second chamber of the Riksdag (parliament).
Malmö (Malmhauge, Malmey, Malmöye, Malmoughe), sometimes called Ancona Scanorum or Ellenbogen, first appears in history about the middle of the 13th century. During the Hanseatic period it was the most important commercial town on the Sound, but in the 16th and 17th centuries greatly lost ground owing to the decay of its herring fisheries and the rise of its rival, Copenhagen. Its modern prosperity is largely due to the enterprise of Frans Snell, one of its merchants in the second half of the 18th century, who first constructed the harbour.